Helped by the one of the most consistent Fantasy Football performers and the most efficient striker in many a year, a traditionally middle of the road Fulham side are on a roll at the moment.
Whilst many of you, like myself, were cursing the absence of Sergio Aguero and David Silva last weekend, there were countless others smiling satisfactorily to themselves at their decision to hand the captain’s armband to Clint Dempsey.
A home fixture for a team in form, Fulham, against a team devoid of any confidence and devoid of a proper manager, Wolves, we should really have seen last weekend’s 5-0 result coming. If Fulham are going to score five goals, you can be damn sure that Dempsey is going to have a hand in a few of them and so it proved as the American chipped in with two goals, a couple of bonus points and a clean sheet for 15 points in total. In the last six games alone, he’s scored 54 points.
Dempsey’s displays shouldn’t come as a real surprise, however, as he’s been delivering the goods for ages. The 12 goals and three assists he contributed last season is not half bad for a team who are the very epitome of mid-table mediocrity and with 11 games yet to go in this campaign, he’s already equalled his goals tally and picked up an additional two assists.
That’s the reason why, at £9.3 million, he’s one of the most expensive midfielders in the league and a full £3 million more expensive than any of his Fulham teammates.
The next expensive Fulham player is a man who in three games has become a household name, a touch ironic considering it’s amongst the hardest names to pronounce in the world of football.
Some people can take or leave statistics – 56% of people know that – but there are some stats that are simply impossible to ignore. Take the conversion ratio of Pavel Pogrebnyak since joining Fulham in January, for instance. The Russian has taken five shots in Fulham colours in three games and all five of them have ended up in the back of the net.
They haven’t exactly been tap-ins either. His delayed finish when one on one with Paddy Kenny against QPR was sheer class and he also notched a couple of belters against Stoke and Wolves. But talk about efficiency!
Those five goals have led to eight out of a possible nine bonus points in three games, an £0.3 million rise in his value (it doesn’t sound like a lot but it is in such a short space of time) and 33 points in total.
Given their tendency to disappear when playing away from home, Fulham players are not always the most reliable Fantasy Football investments, but it’s looking cosy in the Cottage at the moment, largely thanks to their in-form dynamic duo.
P.S. Managers should bear in mind that both Liverpool and Everton have double gameweeks this week owing to the Merseyside derby at Anfield on Tuesday night.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Robin van Persie (£13.3 million). Some might have doubted his capacity to perform under pressure at Anfield, but with only three touches in the box in the whole game, he still scored two goals. Simply undroppable at the moment.
Mid-Range: Pavel Pogrebnyak (£6.3 million). We’ve already waxed lyrical about the Russian’s abilities and if he keeps up his conversion rate against Villa this weekend, he’ll only need to shoot once or twice to ensure a profitable return.
Bargain Basement: Royston Drenthe (£5.3 million). Not always the most consistent, Drenthe is starting to display some end product to go along with his obvious ability in recent matches.
Irish Pick: Wes Hoolahan (£4.5 million). The man with a wand for a left foot is in and out of the Canaries’ starting XI, but Paul Lambert should give him the chance to do damage against Wigan at Carrow Road on Sunday.
Captain’s Pick: Wayne Rooney (£12.2 million). Brilliant once again at White Hart Lane on Sunday, Rooney has returned five goals and 33 points from his last three games and we expect him to continue his good run against West Brom at Old Trafford on Sunday.
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